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Dick Lentz: God may grant our wish to be left alone

By Dick Lentz

Posted:
06/29/2015 11:06:10 PM MDT

Updated:
06/29/2015 11:08:22 PM MDT

I have to be honest. Though I am a Christian and believe that God's design for marriage is one man and one woman, the recent Supreme Court decision to allow same-sex marriage does not anger me. I believe that people ought to have the right to pursue committed relationships in whatever fashion suits their mindset as long as it doesn't harm those not involved in the relationship. But all the celebrating that has accompanied this decision does make me sad. I'm sad because accepting that same-sex marriage is the same as the marriage between one man and one woman requires one to reject the authority of the Word of God on this matter and that rejecting God and what He says in His Word about human relationships doesn't result in the better good for anyone.

God said in Genesis 2:18-25 that He understands the need for intimate human relationships. He said, "It is not good that man be alone." He then created a woman, one who He considered to be the perfect companion and help mate for man, and said that these two would now become one flesh. God created a bond between a man and a woman at this point that was to serve as the foundation for all family relationships. The fact that a number of people mentioned in the Bible did not follow this standard does not negate its validity. Jesus confirmed that marriage is to be between one man and one woman in Matthew 19:4-6 when He said in effect, "Don't you know that from the beginning that this is how God designed these relationships to occur?"

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When we say that same-sex marriage ought to be the same as the marriage between one man and one woman, it is tantamount to saying that God was wrong regarding this matter. It's a rejection of God's foundation for human relationships, at least the one established in the book of Genesis and confirmed by Jesus, and saying that our ideas about this are somehow superior to His. It's saying that we don't need God to tell us how to live our lives and that we can figure it out for ourselves. It's in effect telling God and those who support His view on marriage to shut up about this matter and to quit reminding us that our ideas about how to develop fulfilling human relationships are somehow flawed.

I have a fear that accompanies this sadness. It's a fear that God will listen to these demands for silence and back away from us entirely. We have the freedom to choose to have a relationship with God that redeems us from ourselves or to follow a path paved with self-developed solutions for the issues we face in life. We have the freedom to say "no" to God and to tell Him to leave us alone so that we can go our own way. We have the freedom to accept or reject the yardstick given in the Bible that shows the error of our ways and describes our path to redemption. The freedom to reject God and His standards comes with consequences, however. At some point, if we push God away too many times, He may throw up His arms and say, "OK, if that's that way you want it, then I will leave you alone." I fear that this day is fast approaching and dread what will come if God decides to grant this wish to be left alone.

I don't believe that God defines the foundation for marriage as one man and one woman in order to restrain us. I believe He does so in order to protect us. I believe that He wants to save us from ourselves and the thought that we know better than Him about how to make our lives better. And I believe that when we reject God's foundation for human relationships and build one of our own making that we do so at our own peril.

What makes me sad is that so many believe that God's way is no longer relevant or best and that their way, a way defined by flawed and imperfect men, is somehow better.

Dick Lentz is a Bible teacher at Calvary Church in Longmont. He can be reached at dickelentz@aol.com.

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